A Midsummer's Nightmare
by livyrosebud
Summary: When Phineas and Ferb create a love potion to help Candace win Jeremy's attention, a frustrated Isabella tries to use it to get Phineas to finally notice her. However, things don't go exactly as planned....
1. Love Potion 942PF

Hello everybody! This is my first ever fanfiction, so I apologize if it's not that good. However, I will accept all types of reviews (just try to keep the language clean: remember little people can read this stuff too!).

Disclaimer: Alright. I am not the creator of this brilliant show, no matter how much I wish I was.

The Flynn-Fletcher house, 9:00am

" Boys! Breakfast time! "

Phineas Flynn's eyes fluttered open at the sound of his mother's voice. Yawning, he sat up and stretched, then glanced at the alarm clock on his bedside table. Immediately he sat bolt upright, and ran over to his stepbrothers bed. Jumping onto the end, he began shaking him roughly.

"Ferb! Ferb, dude wake up! It's already 9:00! We're losing precious daylight here!"

Ferb sat up slowly, groaning. He rose his eyebrows at the triangle-headed 11 year old.

Phineas sighed. "Yes, I know it probably wasn't the best idea to drink all that coffee last night. But how else were we supposed to stay up to watch the Almost All-Night Extremely Terrifying Picture Show of Doom, moniter our dreams, then use the footage to create our own Awesomely Super-Scary movie?" He took a deep breath. "Wow that was quite the sentence. That reminds me…."

He said this all in the matter of two breaths, with increasing speed, while bouncing up and down. Ferb rolled his eyes. It was pretty obvious the coffee was still affecting him. Unfortunatly, the effects of the high-energy drink had worn off of himself. Stiffly, he removed the headset that had recorded his dreams throughout the night. Phineas did the same. He then ran over to the computer, and plugged each headset into the side. "Great. The computer will process the info over the day, and we can watch our movie tonight! Or…maybe tomorrow…"he corrected, seeing the look Ferb was giving him.

"So, Ferbo, what are we doing today?" Phineas said bouncing over to stand beside his step-brother. Ferb shuffled over to the bookshelf, and pulled a battered book off the end. It was stuffed full of blueprints, scetches, and notes. He flipped the book to the page with July 10th, 2009 written on the top.

The page was completely empty.

Ferb opened his mouth as if to speak, then simply held the book up in front of his step-brother's face. Phineas stared at the blank page for a second, then yelped, and grabbed the book out of Ferb's hands. After examining the page from several different angles, he concluded the page was most certainly empty.

"Well." He said. "That's most defiantly a problem. It appears we've been so wrapped up in our days activities, we completely forgot to plan new ones!" He paced around the room hurriedly, the stopped suddenly. "In that case, we'll just have to come up with something. But, firs-"

He was interrupted by Candace. She was leaning by the doorway, examining her fingernails. "You know," she said, blowing on her nails, "I would love to sit here and listen to you two scheme about your latest plan to drive me insane, but Mom wants you down for breakfast NOW" She pointed down the stairs. "And after that, she's bringing us to the park while she goes for band rehearsal, and there, I'll be able to see Jeremy, so you two better HURRY UP!"

She turned and stalked down the stairs, talking to someone on her phone. The brothers heard her say "And then she was like 'oh no you didn't', and I was like…."

"Come on Ferb buddy, times a wastin'" Phineas said zipping down the stairs. Ferb sighed, then trudged after his over-hyper brother, trying to wipe the sleep out of his eyes.

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Linda Flynn placed two plated heaping with pancakes on the kitchen table, just as her son Phineas slid into his chair. He was followed a couple of seconds later by a bleary-eyed Ferb. She raised one of her eyebrows.

"Well, it looks like somebody didn't sleep very well last night" she remarked, as Ferb fought to keep his eyes open.

"Yeah!" Phineas said, bouncing up and down. "We stayed up almost alllllllllllllllll night, and watch the Almost All-Night Extremely Terrifying Picture Show of Doom, monitored our dreams, and our computer is creating our very own horror movie out of the footage!"

Linda chuckled. "That's very nice boys. Just don't stay up to late again tonight, okay?"

Candace rolled her eyes. She could tell her Mom didn't really believe it. Once again, she put it down to Phineas's overactive imagination. But someday, sooner or later (hopefully sooner), she would see. And when that day came, Candace would relish every moment.

Linda wiped her hands on a dishtowel, then turned to her kids. "You kids go get cleaned up, then I'll drop you off at the park. Candace, you can bring them back here after a while."

"OK" Phineas said before sprinting upstairs. Ferb sighed, then followed him slowly. Candace said "Yeah. Sure. Whatever."without even looking up from her phone. Linda shook her head. "Kids these days", she said, picking up her book to wait.

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Danville Park, 9:30am

Ferb collapsed at the base of the huge oak tree in Danville Park. He watched his brother circle around the lake, again, and again, and again. Phineas had told him he couldn't think straight with the coffee buzz in the back of his skull, so he was trying to run off all his extra energy. Watching his brother run, Ferb wondered how long he could keep it up…

He switched his focus to his step-sister, who had just spotted Jeremy. He watched lazily as she took a couple of breaths before putting on her 'glamour girl' smile, and walking up to him. Jeremy turned, and smiled back at her. He said something to her, and she responded, batting her eyelashes. Ferb had always wondered why girls did that. I looked pretty ridiculous to him, but, to all their own.

Just then, another girl Ferb believed to be named Mindy, came up to Jeremy. She asked him something, and Candace's face turned beet red. Jeremy shrugged, then waved goodbye to Candace. He then walked off with the other girl.

Candace stood and stared at Mindy and Jeremy's backs. Her eye was twitching slightly. If this were a science fiction movie, Ferb thought, there would be lasers coming out of her eyes. She stalked toward where he was sitting, and slid down next to him.

She sighed. "Ferb you're a boy, right? Tell me, is there something unappealing about me? Something that would make Jeremy not want to ask me to be his girlfriend? AND accept invitations to get ice cream with someone like Mindy??"

Ferb blinked.

Candace sighed again. "Well, thanks for the help." She said dully.

Just then, Phineas crawled up beside Ferb, and propped himself up against the tree. "So Ferb," he panted. "Come up with any good ideas for today's activities"?

Ferb shrugged.

Phineas nodded. "Yeah, I still can't think of anything either. We should defiantly think about this next time we consider drinking twelve cups of coffee. But as for right now…" He pulled out two cans of grape soda, and handed one to his brother.

Shaking her head at her brothers' weirdness, Candace pulled a framed picture of Jeremy out of her pocket. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see the two brothers perk up as the soda affected them. She shook her head slightly, and sighed as she traced Jeremy's profile.

Energy regained, Phineas poked his head over Candace's shoulder. "What 'cha looking at?" he asked.

"Jeremy." Candace sighed. Phineas was surprised. He had imagined a sarcastic comment, or a 'Nothing' at the very least. She must really like Jeremy, he thought. It's too bad…

That's when it hit him.

"Ferb!" he said, grabbing his brother by the shoulders. "I know what we're going to do today!"

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The Flynn-Fletcher garage, 10:00am

"Rose petals."

………………….

"Sugar"

………………….

"Honey"

………………….

"Rosemary"

Phineas ground the last of the rosemary into a flask, which was emitting a rosy pink steam, and an intoxicating smell. He took a long whiff with his eyes closed, then sighed. "Absolutly serendipitous. Ferb, Love Potion Number 942/PF is complete!"

Just then Isabella's head popped around the side of the garage door. "Hey Phineas," she said with hearts in her eyes.

Phineas turned, and smiled at the sight of his friend. "Oh, hey Isabella."

Taking in the sight of the various spills of strange looking chemicals, with the flask of sweet-smelling liquid in the middle of it all, Isabella's brow furrowed. " Um…..What'cha doin'?"

"Oh that?" Phineas said, tracing her eyes to the potion. "That, my friend, is a potion that smells and tastes so delightful, that it cause a reaction of admiration and adoration in the mind of the drinker, after laying eyes on someone of the opposite gender."

Isabella tilted her head to one side. "So, a love potion?"

"Exactly!" Phineas exclaimed. "You see, Candace has been waiting for weeks for Jeremy to ask her to be his girlfriend. So ,we figured we'd help things along a little."

"So......." Isabella said, an idea slowly forming in the back of her head. "This is steroetypical love potion stuff, right? Like, you drink it, then fall in love with the next person you see?"

"Ummmm, yes, I believe I mentioned that." Phineas said vaguely, concentrating on adding the finishing touches to the potion.

Isabella nodded slowly. "Right...just checking.."

Just then the doorbell rang. Both Phineas and Ferb immediatly jumped up. "That must be Jeremy!" Phineas said excitedly. The two shot off towards the kitchen, leaving Isabella in the garage. She could vaguely hear Phineas stop to ask something about Perry.

Now alone, Isabella wandered in the direction of the table holding the potion. _They must have forgotten to bring it. _Her hand inched towards the beaker holding the sweet-smelling liquid, but she forced it back. After a couple of seconds, it started moving towards the beaker again, and once again, she forced it back. After doing this a couple more times, she snapped, and her hand closed around the glass.

_He never notices me. _She grabbed a small vial. _Never, except as a friend, lending a hand in his 'plans'. _She poured some of the liquid into the vial, and plugged the lid with a cork.

Still trying to convince herself that what she was doing was right, Isabella turned and ran into the kitchen before she could change her mind.

Isabella's getting a little desperate now, isn't she? Although I can't blame her after Out To Launch. Anyway, there's the first chapter, hope you liked it. Number 2 should be out within....a month? I have no clue really. It'll be a while. So......click that little bluish button down there and give me feedback!!!

- livyrosebud


	2. Things go haywire

Hello again everybody! Yeah...this took a while. I'm extremely sorry for the wait, but this chapter was a lot harder to write than the first one...and thank you everybody for the awesome reviews! Eighteen reviews for one chapter?! I mean holy cow, that more than three times the number I expected! You all rock!

Anyway, now that Isabella has the potion, what will happen? And how will Phineas react if he finds out? Read on to find out!

Now, here's chapter 2!

**Disclaimer:**I wish. But no, Dan Povenmire and Jeff 'Swampy' Marsh are the lucky owners of this show.

Isabella slowed from her run as she approached the front door of the Flynn-Fletcher house. She took a couple deep breaths, and was about to open the door when it burst open from the inside. Phineas and Ferb rushed out. Isabella's hand instinctively closed around the vial holding the potion. She realized how panicked she must seem, and tried to assume a casual look.

"Hey, what cha' doin' now?" she asked nervously. She casually wiped some sweat off her forehead, and forced a smile.

"Jeremy isn't here yet." Phineas responded. "That was Buford. He forgot his favorite punching bag here yesterday. Ferb and I are just headed down to prepare the potion for when he really does get here."

They continued to the garage. Isabella waited until they were completely out of sight before releasing her grip. She breathed a sigh of relief, and cautiously opened the door. Stepping inside, she looked around and confirmed that the kitchen was empty before tiptoeing over to the refrigerator.

She opened it slowly, still afraid someone was going to hear her. She grabbed a can of lemonade, and took a glass from one of the cupboards. After pouring the lemonade into the glass, she reached into her pocket and pulled out the potion.

Her hands trembled slightly as she held the bottle over the glass. Part of her was screaming _Don't do it!, _but the other, louder half was still chanting _He never notices you, only as a friend. _Frowning, she forced the first voice out of her head, convincing herself that she would get an antidote after she had enjoyed Phineas's attention for a few days. Or weeks.

With that decided, she poured the contents of the vial into the glass. The drink immediately began emitting the same rosy-colored steam that it had in the garage. Isabella held her breath, praying that the steam would die away. After about thirty seconds it did, and Isabella sighed in relief. Just to be certain, she examined the glass, to make sure there was no hint of the potion to be seen.

Just as she was checking the bottom of the glass, Candace walked in, humming something to herself. Isabella quickly sat down the glass, assuming a fake smile.

"Oh, hello there Isabella." Candace said, smiling widely. "Isn't today just a great day?"

Isabella rose her eyebrows. "Jeremy's coming over, isn't he?"

Candace looked up, panicked. "How-how did you know that? I'm not to eager, am I? Stacy told me that guys _hate _it when a girls seems to e-."

Isabella interrupted her panicked rant. "Actually, Phineas told me. Although..." she trailed off. "You might want to watch the eagerness thing also."

Candace took a deep breath. "Alright. I've got to talk to Stacy." She walked out of the room, already dialing Stacy's number. Buford walked into the kitchen just as she left, covered in dust bunnies and platypus fur, but smiling triumphantly. His lost punching bag was draped over his shoulder.

"Whew." Buford wiped his brow. "Who knew that searching under beds could be so tiring? I need a drink." He spotted the glass of lemonade on the table, grabbed it, and chugged half of it down. Isabella froze, eyes wide, as she slowly realized what had just happened.

Buford frowned slightly, looking at the drink in his hands. "Hmmm...that tasted sort of strange...." He shrugged it off. "Eh. Hey girly, tell Dinner Bell that I'm going home, and don't bother...." he turned around, expecting to see Isabella, but was faced with an empty kitchen. "Huh. I guess I'll just have to go find Dinner Bell myself."

Unknown to Buford, Isabella was still in the kitchen, crouched down behind the counter. Her head was spinning, still in shock about how her plan had come crashing down. Thoughts were bouncing around in her head. She had to stop Buford from seeing any girls, without letting him look at her. But even if she managed to do that (which in itself was near impossible:sneaking up on Buford was about as easy as sneaking up on a lion), she would have to ask Phineas for an antidote, and there was _no _way she'd be able to explain _that._

As it turns out, all of Isabella's panicked thinking was in vain. Just as she was considering jumping Buford, using her Fireside Girls sash as a blindfold, Candace walked into the room.

Isabella held her breath. _Don't turn around Buford, please, PLEASE do not, for the good of humanity, do not...!_

Her silent pleading obviously did not make it's way into Buford's thoughts. He turned, and his eyes landed on Candace.

Buford's punching bag dropped to the ground as he stared at Candace. His jaw was hanging open, and Isabella could practically see the hearts forming in his eyes. All hope that the potion could be useless disappeared instantly. Isabella groaned and hit her head against the counter. She should have known: things _never _go according to plan.

Candace heard her head hit the counter, and tuned, snapping her cell phone shut. "Uh, Isabella, why are you behind our counter? And why do you look like you just saw a ghost?" She said this while laughing slighty, but her eyebrows drew together after she finished. "Annd why do I feel like there's someone watching me....?"

She whipped around, and rose her eyebrows when she saw Buford oogling her. "Why is this creepy little kid staring at me?"

Buford shook his head. "I-I apologize! Please forgive me, my sweet! Do you want me to, perhaps, shut my ears in the oven as a punishment?"

By now, Candace's eyes were popping out of her head. Buford was already opening the oven before Candace realized that he was serious. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, no need for any, uh, shutting ears in ovens, or anything." She laughed nervously, and backed away as Buford advanced on her.

Isabella watched helplessly as Buford slid his arm around Candace's shoulder. "So, how would you like for me to escort you to dinner tonight? I was thinking, perhaps, Italian food?"

Candace's look turned from confusion to horror. She slid out from under Buford's arm. "Um, actually, I...."

She was interrupted as her brothers, and Jeremy walked into the kitchen. Jeremy was laughing at something Phineas had just said, and Candace's attempt to smile became dreamy when she was reminded of how cute he looked when he laughed. Buford's expression became jealous as he saw Candace stare at Jeremy.

"Hey, Candace." Jeremy went to stand next to her. Buford crossed his arms and began staring him down. Noticing this, Jeremy politely nodded at him. "Ummm, it's...Buford, right?"

"Yes." Buford said, still glaring at him. "What's it to you?"

Jeremy chuckled nervously. Buford made a point of pounding his hand into his fist, causing Jeremy to back away even more. Isabella groaned and buried her face in her hands.

"Why don't you sit down, Jeremy?" Phineas said. Behind him, Ferb pulled out a chair. Jeremy smiled nervously at Phineas, still eyeing Buford. He sat down, and Candace predictably raced to the seat across from him. Isabella noticed Phineas smiling slyly a second before she noticed the cup of lemonade in Ferb's hand. It took her only a milli-second to realize what was about to happen.

"Hey, Ferb, thanks for getting me a drink!" she said, scooting in between him and Jeremy, and grabbing the glass out of his hand. Usually she would be horrified with herself for being so rude, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Ferb shot her a panicked look, subtly shaking his head, while behind him, Phineas was frantically (and not so subtly) trying to signal to her not to drink it. Candace gave him a strange look, and he toned it down, but continued to draw his hand across his neck.

Isabella smiled innocently at them, then made a show of spilling the drink across the floor. "Oops!" She silently praised herself, and skipped over to the counter to get napkins to wipe up the mess. Phineas and Ferb, who both looked somewhat confused, went to help her.

"So," Buford said, throwing his arm around Candace's shoulder again. "You never gave me an answer about that dinner date." Jeremy heard this, and rose his eyebrows at Candace. Candace immediately began shaking her head frantically, stammering nonsense.

"That's funny," Jeremy said, laughing nervously. "Because, actually, I was going to ask you to dinner too, Candace." Candace's face lit up instantly, but Buford glared at him.

"Well that's how it is, is it?" Buford pounded his fist into his hand. "Why don't we take this out back pretty boy?" Jeremy's eyes widened, and he looked to Candace for help.

"Ummmm, he, he...." Candace glanced around, not sure what to do. Her eyes landed on Phineas and her eyes narrowed. She had a strange feeling that Buford's weird actions (well...stranger than usual actions) had something to do with him and Ferb.

"Phineas, can I talk to you for a second?" Phineas nodded, looking at Buford with a 'what in the world?' expression on his face. Candace was about to walk out of the room when she noticed that Buford was still threatening Jeremy. She leaned down to Isabella.

"Isabella? Can you keep those two under control, while I bust my brothers?" Isabella sighed and nodded. Candace thought that she saw a slightly guilty look on her face, but she convinced herself that she was imagining it. She walked over to the two guys, grabbed Buford by the ear, and dragged him to a seat at the kitchen table.

Candace nodded, giving Buford the evil eye, before following her brother out of the room.

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"Okay," Candace hissed. She swung around to face her brother. "What in the world is going on here?"

Phineas shrugged. "I dunno. I was actually about to ask you the same thing! I mean," here he couldn't resist a small laugh. "It almost seems like Buford is in lov-."

He cut off in the middle of his sentence. A look of realisation was crossing his face. Candace looked at him suspiciously. "Are you sure you had nothing to do with this?"

"Well," Phineas said, thinking very hard. "Ferb and I did create this love potion...." Candace's eyes widened, and her hand automatically reached for her phone, but Phineas started shaking his head. "But that's impossible! We only brought up one sample, and Isabella spilt that. There's absolutely no way that Buford's under it's influence." He patted Candace on the back, obviously trying to help her relax. However, for Candace, two facts still remained, and those were 1. Buford was obviously infatuated with her, whether caused by a potion or not, and 2. Her brothers had knowingly created a love potion, and to her, that spelt _busted_!

"So, before a make a call to Mom, would you like to explain to me _why _you felt the need to make a love potion in the first place?" Candace placed her hands on her hips, and gave Phineas her best 'I'm in charge so tell me the truth, and tell me now," look.

"'Fraid I can't tell you that sis. It was going to be a surprise for you, because I know how you feel about Jeremy...oops. Well, the cat's out of the bag now, I guess!"

Candace's mouth dropped open. Had she really seemed that desperate? She must have if Phineas, of all people had noticed. But to actually make a love potion to help her...it was sweet, but thinking about it, Candace realized that she would much rather never get together with Jeremy than have his feelings for her be caused by a potion. She wasn't that desperate, not yet, although she could think of a couple of people who might be...

This thought stirred something in the back of Candace's mind, but she pushed it back for now. After all, there were more important things to be done right now.

"You," she said, flipping her phone open. "Are soooo busted!"

Turning away from her brother, Candace dialed her mom's number in record time. She tapped her feet while waiting for her to pick up. After five rings, the machine picked up. Candace groaned, but resisted throwing her phone in frustration.

She stomped back into the kitchen, muttering about unreliable mothers not answering their phones while at band practice. It was a couple of seconds before she noticed Buford and Jeremy having a heated argument (she had never noticed, but he looked so cute when he was angry!), and...Stacy fawning over Ferb!?

"You have the cutest accent!" Stacy gushed. "British accents are the greatest!" Ferb nodded. He gave Phineas a fearful and panicked glance. Phineas was looking equally panicked. His eyes were floating between Buford and Jeremy's arguement, and his brother's predicament.

Candace's eyes narrowed. Something really strange (stranger than normal, if that was possible) was going on here, and it was obvious that her brothers had little to do with it. Her eyes searched the room, and landed on Isabella.

_Isabella..._

Isabella, meanwhile, was having a mini-panic attack of her own. If it hadn't been enough that Stacy had to walk in at exactly the wrong moment, and drank the remainder of the love potion, Buford had picked a fight with Jeremy the minute Isabella had gone to try and stop her.

She groaned, then looked up to see Candace making her way towards her, seemingly unaware of the two boys fighting for her affection behind her. She slid into the seat next to her, and stared out at the chaos.

"Some weird stuff going on today, isn't there?"

Isabella nodded her agreement, fighting to keep from looking guilty.

"You know," Candace continued, "If I were ever to get my hands on a love potion, I would chuck the thing down the drain."

Isabella froze. Candace couldn't have figured it out, could she? She did know about her crush on Phineas, so it wasn't impossible. Isabella began to shake. If Candace had found out what she had done, she would tell Phineas. Then, not only would Phineas know about her crush, but he would think that she was a deceiving, dishonest person, who was willing to mess with others emotions to get what she wanted. Which, Isabella realized, with a blush, was essentially what she had tried to do. She had lied, technically stole, and basically smashed all the Respect and Responsibility rules in her Fireside Girl's handbook, for her own selfish wants.

Beside her, Candace was still rambling. "I mean, to have someone like you _just because_ of a _potion_-"

Isabella stood up, cutting her off, and ran over to push Buford down into his chair. He tried to get back up, but she gave him a look, and he gulped and stayed where he was. She then marched over to Stacy, and pulled her off of poor Ferb.

By now everybody in the kitchen was staring at her. It was deathly quiet. Isabella broke the silence.

"Phineas, Ferb, Candace? Can I talk to you guys in private?"

Whew! Finally! So ,yeah the peoples who 'fell in love' pretty surprising I suppose. It took me forever to decide who would 'fall in love', and eventually I had to go with this, because it was taking way to long.

Now, Isabella is finally going to confess to her sins, but how will Phineas react? Well...even I don't know that. But the more you review, the sooner you'll find out! So click that whatever-color-you-want-to-call-it-button down there and review!

-livyrosebud


	3. An Awkward Ending

Ummmmmm......hi.

Yeah, I'm very very very very very very very very sorry about the lateness of this, but I had basetball, and my parents banned me from the computer for a week, then I had another week of twenty minutes a day, and....uggggh. Very sorry

Anywho, here's the final chapter! (Finally...)

**Disclaimer:** Nope

Isabella paced back and forth across the Flynn's living room floor, waiting for Phineas to return. She, Phineas, Ferb, and Candace had been forced to lock Buford and Stacy out of the house to prevent them from following Candace and Ferb into the living room. It had been harder than it sounded: Both Buford and Stacy could be very strong when they wanted to.

Phineas walked into the room, panting slightly. He closed the door behind him, then looked at Isabella curiously. "So, what did you want to talk to us about?"

Isabella gulped. She glanced over at Candace, who was looking at her with a mix of a worried, and a 'do I want to hear this?' expression.

"Well, uhhhhhhhh..." she glanced down at her feet, blushing. "You see, I-this morning, I kind of sneaked some of your guy's love potion upstairs, and, uh...I think Buford and Stacy _might_ have gotten into it, which would explain their, well...behavior," Isabella finally managed to blurt out, purposely avoiding her reason for taking the potion.

She looked up. Phineas seemed extremely confused, Ferb was looking slightly knowing, and Candace's eyes were flicking between Isabella and her brother, seeing if he would pick up on anything.

Phineas's brow furrowed as he considered his friend's actions. "So..if _you_ were the one who caused this...why did you do it in the first place?"

Isabella's eyes widened. "Ummm...well, uh...now's not the time for that! After all, the sooner we create an antidote to the potion, the better, right?" she tittered nervously.

Phineas nodded slowly. "True, very true. Ferb, how long will it take to create an antidote?"

Ferb pulled out a calculator, and began punching in numbers. His face fell when he saw the result. Phineas looked over his shoulder at the calculator, and grimaced. "Ooh. It appears we have a slight problem."

Candace folded her arms. "And what exactly do you mean by _a slight problem?_" she said in a threatening tone.

"What I mean is, it could take three to four days to make it," Phineas said, already making notes on what he and Ferb would need.

Both Isabella and Candace's jaws dropped open simultaneously and Isabella was forced to grab Candace's arm to prevent her from tackling her brother. "So, why exactly will it take that long? I mean, you guys created the first one in what, half an hour?" she said, straining from the effort of holding Candace back.

"Well," Phineas said, leaning over a complicated-looking formula, while Ferb laid out a bunch of strangely-colored chemicals on the table next to him, "I think it's pretty safe to say that it's much more complicated to make people fall out of love, then fall _in_ love."

Candace nearly laughed out loud. As if Phineas knew the first thing about romance, although he did have a point.

Just then there was a giant crash. All four kids exchanged a worried glance, then ran to the window.

Outside, Buford was using his punching bag as a battering ram, trying in vain to break down the door. Phineas winced.

"Wow," he remarked, as the four pulled back from the window. "_That's _a bit more problematic then I thought it was..hmm." He rubbed his chin. "Maybe we shouldn't have added so many mint leaves...Candace, Ferb you guys _might _wanna consider locking yourselves in your room for the next few days."

It was Isabella's turn to wince. As if she hadn't felt horrible enough to start with....

_Meanwhile, outside....._

"Come on Buford! Put a little muscle into it! Ferb's in there waiting for me dude! CRUSH IT!!!" Stacy yelled, junping up and down.

Buford grunted. "I'm _trying_, okay girly? You think I enjoy standin' out here while Jeremy's probably hittin' on-"

Stacy interruptted him. "Blah, blah, blah, you're wasting precious time here! Let's GO!"

Out of nowhere, a bright red ray shot down from the sky, engulfing Stacy and Buford before retreating back up. Somewhere high about the Flynn-Fletcher house came a faint cry of 'Curse you Perry the platypus!', and a blimp fell into the trees below. If you looked closely, you could make out a tiny blue-ish parachute drifting away from where the blimp had fallen.

Back on the ground, Buford and Stacy were both on their knees, rubbing their heads. They both groaned and stood. Buford looked confused at the punching bag in his hand, and the wear-marks on the door. "Wha-what just _happened_?"

Stacy shrugged. "I have absolutely no idea."

The two stood there for a couple more seconds, considering all the weird things that happened in their lives. Then Stacy turned to Buford and said, "Hey, Wrestle Mania 3 came out today."

Buford grinned and rubbed his hands together. "_Now_ you're talkin'!"

With that, Stacy grabbed her skateboard and Buford his bike, and the two raced off towards the Googleplex mall.

Inside, Ferb watched this, slightly amused. He had no clue where the beam that had apparently reversed the effects of the potion had come from, but considering stuff like this happened every day, he had almost been expecting something like this.

He walked back into the living room, and tapped Phineas on the shoulder. Phineas jerked up. "What is it? This requires great concentration...." he mumbled.

Ferb pointed out the living room window. Phineas looked up and did a double take. His eyes widened. "They're gone?" He scratched his head. "Well...I guess we won't be needing the antidote anymore!" he said, returning to his usual optimism.

Isabella casually glanced out of the window, hardly daring to believe her luck, and breathed a sigh of relief

"Well," Candace said, sounding as relieved as Isabella felt, "I never thought I'd be grateful for the force that makes everything disappear, but there are exceptions, and this is one of them."

With that she walked back into the kitchen to attempt to explain things to Jeremy. Ferb followed her out, leaving Phineas and Isabella alone.

Isabella bit her lip. She knew that she was going to have to tell Phineas what had really happened. Unfortunatly, she also realized that by doing this she would have to tell him how she felt about him. Just thinking about it was making her feel queasy, but she knew she had to do what was right.

Working up her courage, Isabella took a couple of careful steps towards Phineas, who was cleaning up the unfinished antidote. She cleared her throat. He turned, and smiled when he saw her. Isabella felt her heart fluttering, and not just because she was nervous.

"Phineas, ummm...about what happened today...I can explain," she managed to spit out. Before she could continue, Phineas grinned and shook his head.

"No need Isabella, no need. I already figured it out," he said, smiling even wider.

Isabella was startled. "You-you _did_?" she said in disbelief. After all this time, all his obliviousness, was it possible that he had finally come to his senses?

"Of course!" Phineas exclaimed. "And I have to say, it was brilliant! I can't believe Ferb and I didn't think of it!"

Isabella cocked her head, confused. "Um, excuse me?"

Phineas chuckled. "Ah, modest are we?" he replied, nudging her in the stomach. Isabella tried to look like she knew what he was talking about.

"Ferb and I really should have consulted with you in the first place. After all, girls are supposed to be superior to guys when it comes to romance. I just can't believe we didn't think of the whole jealousy approach! Especially when you consider how often it's used on TV...good thing you came through! Plus, you stopped us from doing something that was probably over the top." He chuckled. "How much did you have to bug Buford before he agreed to play along?"

Isabella could hardly believe it. From what she had gathered, Phineas thought that she had convinced Buford to pretend to be in love with Candace, and stopped them from giving the potion to Jeremy because she knew how manupulative it was. She opened her mouth to speak, but with one look at his trusting gaze, she found herself unable to tell him.

_I'm not ready for this, _she realized. She would tell him the truth of what had happened, she was sure. But she wasn't quite ready, not yet.

"Yeah," she agreed quietly, "I'm sorry, I should have told you first, but.." she shrugged, unable to go further.

Phineas nodded and smiled. "It's okay. I'm glad you did it. You really are a great friend Isabella."

She blushed, then noticed how late it had gotten. "Whoa, it's already 3:00? I have to go Phineas. I have a dentist appointment in half an hour."

Phineas frowned sympathetically. "Aw, that stinks. Good luck," he said.

Isabella nodded appreciativly, waved goodbye, then walked back into the kitchen. Candace was still there, staring at nothing, a dreamy look on her face. Linda was there too. She hung up her coat, then looked at Candace smugly.

"So," Linda said, hands on hips, "Am I right in assuming this has something to do with Jeremy?"

Candace merely nodded, her eyes glazed over.

Linda sighed, and waved her hand in front of Candace's face. "Caaaaaaandace, time to come out of la-la land," she said in a slightly annoyed voice.

Candace immediatly snapped out of her daze, shaking her head. "Wha-oh hi mom," she sighed, sounding completely content.

"Alright. Tell me what happened. Did _somebody _ask my little girl out on a date?" she said, reminding Isabella of an excited teen-aged girl.

"_Please_ mom. We're just going to dinner, maybe a movie after...oh who am I kidding, Jeremy totally asked me out on a date!" Candace exclaimed. She grabbed Linda's wrists and the two danced around the kitchen, Linda seeming slightly exasperated and slightly amused. Isabella lingered by the entrance to the kitchen feeling uncomfortable, like she was violating some kind of code by witnessing this special mother-daughter moment.

Linda untangled her arms from her daughter's, and stepped away, panting slightly. "That's enough for right now Candace. Whew, I _really _need to get to a gym," she remarked. Turning, she noticed Isabella standing uncertainly by the entryway. "Oh, Isabella dear." Behind her, Candace continued her victory dance while attempting to text somebody. (Isabella assumed it was Stacy.) She nearly dropped her phone about five times, but didn't seem to care. "Would you like to stay for dinner? Lawrence is away with some friends from England, and we have an extra seat."

Isabella flashed a smile at Linda. "I would love to Mrs. Fletcher, but I have a dentist appointment. Thank you anyways."

"Alright then. Maybe some other time." Isabella nodded, and headed for the door. "Oh, and Isabella?" Isabella looked back. "Call me Linda, please."

"Okay. Thanks again, Linda!" Isabella called. She waved to Candace, who appeared to be giving Stacy a play-by-play of exactly what Jeremy had said to her. Candace waved briefly to Isabella, then went back to her phone conversation, speaking so fast Isabella would be surprised if Stacy could follow any of it.

Isabella sighed, feeling lonely, then started. Something was brushing up against her leg. She looked down quickly, and instantly relaxed. It was only Perry. "There you are Perry," she said. She reached down and gently stroked his back.

"You know Perry," she said to him, not entirely sure why, "I'm really glad that things didn't turn out the way I wanted them to. Sure, Phineas still probably only thinks of me as a friend, but at least I know that those are his real feelings. Having him in love with me because of a potion isn't nearly as good as the real thing. You know what I'm saying?"

For a second, Isabella could have sworn Perry started to nod, only to stop himself halfway. She rubbed her eyes, blinked a couple of times, then looked at him again. Perry looked straight back at her, then made his strange chattering noise. Isabella laughed at herself, then patted Perry again. "Of course you don't. Well I guess I'll see you later Perry," Isabella said, still not sure why she was talking to a platypus.

With that she jogged down the path to her house, not looking back. If she had, she would have noticed the front window open, Phineas Flynn standing in complete and total shock behind it.

"Isabella has a crush on me!?" he said in disbelief.

Ferb sidled up besides him. "Well," he said, "This is a bit of an awkward ending, isn't it?"

The End

YAY! I'm done! *happy dance* So yeah, as Ferb said, bit of an awkward ending, but i had made you guys wait to long already, and this was the first thing that popped into my head, so yeah. Also, the idea with Stacy and Buford is that Dr. D created some sort of ray to make people fall out of love, because he hates all the mushy gushy-ness, or something like that. Yes, once again, a bit awkward, but I could come up with nothing else.

I apologize once again for the delay. From now whenever I write a multi-chaptered story, I'll try to write most of it before posting it, so that there won't be such a delay between chapters. So, until then, review!

-livyrosebud


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